My son and I were nearly killed this morning in traffic. Our lives were spared at the last moment when I felt something physically take my hand on the steering wheel and jerk us quickly to safety in the lane next to us. It was divine intervention. I had my own plans (braking and honking). The Lord had different plans. He saw what I couldn’t see with my own eyes. He saw our lives were in jeopardy and intervened. Some may say, “No, Sarah, those were your reflexes.” I can assure you, there were no reflexes involved. I encounter these situations daily, I wasn’t phased by what was happening (someone running a light and turning in front of me). I was calm and doing what I normally do. It was the Lord who moved us.

I’ve been contemplating the situation all day (as well as a few other situations). Why were we spared? People die everyday. No one person more deserving than the next. What was the Lord trying to show me? I could’ve lost my son. My son could’ve lost me. Our family could’ve lost both of us.

I figured I wasn’t spared so I could sit on the couch and watch tv. ;0) So I decided to get up and get my cleaning done.

While cleaning the bathrooms, I was praying. Who doesn’t! Wait is it just me who does that? :0) Anyway, I wasn’t praying anything in particular, not an organized prayer by any means, no words. More just an open heart to the Holy Spirit..letting Him flow into my heart, soul and mind without barriers. That’s my favorite kind of “prayer”. More of an invitation for His input, I suppose.

I heard Him say these words to my spirit, “If you had to lose everyone and everything dear to you in order to follow Me, would you?”

My first thought was instinctively, “Yes, Lord.”

Then I saw snippets of everyone I love in my life, every thing I have that I hold dear. Every sunny day. Every healthy breath. My family. My best friends. My car. My home. My bed. My dogs. My mind. My abilities.

Again, I hear, “If you had to lose everyone and everything dear to you in order to follow Me, would you?”

Again, with a lump in my throat, “Yes, Father. Even if I have to lose everything, I choose You.”

I ache to my core to think of losing people in order to follow Christ and His will. But if it means He is pleased in me, if it means I get to spend eternity with Him, I will. He is my first love.

I want to encourage you to stay on the path. To keep Him first, even when it hurts. Even when your flesh cries out in anguish and you can’t understand why His way is best. One day it will all make perfect sense, but it doesn’t have to make sense now. We have to be like Simon and Andrew. We need to drop everything, and follow.

When we are standing face to face with the Almighty God, it will all make perfect sense.

I think we were spared today because I needed a reminder that everything here on earth fades, it can be gone in an instant, but He remains.

He’s asking for us to go deeper. To let go of the things we have a death grip on, and refocus our attention on Him. It’s not our agenda that matters, it’s His. We need to make His agenda our agenda.

I’ve never seen a baby love a pacifier more than Jaden did. He always had one in his mouth, and one in each hand (not to mention the numerous others laying around). He was never without his binkies.

At one of his check ups the doc told me that it was time to let go of the binkies. That we had a small window of time where he would only remember it for a few days. But if we continued to wait, it would be progressively harder for him to break free of them. That it would also impact his teeth. And finally, that it was best to go cold turkey. So, we did it. It broke my heart.

He cried and cried and cried. Not a tantrum type cry, but a distraught cry. He was looking for his best friends..literally. He looked high and low, but they were gone. He was devastated! But, the doctor was right, after a few (long) days Jaden was over it. He quit looking for his binkies. He didn’t cry anymore. He had moved on.

If the Lord has asked you to let go of something or someone, trust that He knows the timing is right. That this is the appropriate season for change, and that it’s in your best interest. It might hurt immensely at first, but with time you will see that it was the best decision you’ve ever made. Don’t drag it out, go cold turkey.

Jesus said to let our yes be yes and our no be no. There’s no room for maybe in that directive. Follow His leading, and you’ll never be sorry!

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We pray for His provision for this or that. And then when He provides, we feel as if we aren’t worthy of the provision, or we aren’t sure if we should accept it. Or, in my case, I accept it but then keep the tags on it for forever just in case I need to return it, or in case a better deal comes along within the return period. I almost always struggle with “buyers remorse” after making a large purchase.

And then there are times with personal provision prayers beng answered. I’m like, “Wait, no that’s not what I asked for, Lord! I asked for freedom from stress but I didn’t mean that I wanted THIS aspect of my life removed!” But what we may not see is that in order for our lives to be less stressful, The Lord needs to remove the stress giver, whatever it or who that may be. We have to be willing to let go of what WAS in order to receive what IS. The scripture, “Behold, I am doing a NEW thing!” comes to mind.

If we ask, we need to be ready to receive. Whether it be a financial need, or a personal need, even a fun vacation you’ve been wanting to take..whatever it may be. Be ready and willing to receive it. No guilt, worry, shame, or trepidation is needed or useful!

Even though it may not look like the type of provision you’ve had in mind, trust that the outcome will be just right. His plans for you far outweigh anything you could hope or dream for yourself.

Blessings,

Sarah

Philippians 4:19 (VOICE)
19 Know this: my God will also fill every need you have according to His glorious riches in Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King.

Matthew 7:7 (VOICE)
7 Just ask and it will be given to you; seek after it and you will find. Continue to knock and the door will be opened for you.

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A year ago today I got news that my brother, Matt, was in the hospital with acute pancreatitis, not the flu as we’d all thought. I remember asking people around me (when I got the text), “What’s pancreatitis, is it bad?” Judging by the look the nurse at the party gave me (😳), I was pretty sure it wasn’t like a common cold. Needless to say, it was the beginning of a humongous faith building journey for all of us. A journey where you get to prove to yourself (and everyone watching) if your faith walk matches your faith talk!

The Lord was so faithful to place the perfect people in my life..to build me up, and keep me focused. People I could text at any time day/night with an “update” and know I’d get back a huge long text of encouragement! People who refused to speak in the negative about the situation, which helped SO MUCH. My “sisters” who made me laugh every Thursday, and always had a hug ready. My husband who determined to stay positive with me, who prayed over me, and never stopped telling me that it would be ok. Blog followers who became invested in carrying us through with prayer and written encouragement. And even a random travel agent I found online for our Disney trip..Turned out she was a sister in The Lord AND had been down the same path with her aunt! I could go on forever..but I won’t. 😉

There’s no way I could thank you all, because the chain expanded so largely that I don’t even know who all was praying! I was getting notes from bloggers all over the world who were lifting him/us up in prayer! I literally felt an army all around us, waging war against the enemy, “storming the gates”. Amazing!

If Matt and Laura ever had a moment of negativity in this process, we never saw it. Their determination to stay positive and joyful, trusting in The Lord and Matt’s amazing team of Doctors was awesome, and encouraging.

Matt’s doing so much better now, and is getting back into the things he loves. It’s great to see him looking so much healthier and being able to EAT! 🙂 We are looking forward to the day when we can say his body is 100% healed! But no matter what twists and turns the journey with his body takes, we know it is well with his soul.

Our family has been through more trials in the last year than I care to even recount. At times it felt a like we were getting smacked with every item flying out of a tornado! I was like, “Really?! We’re gonna go THERE?! What’s next!” But through it all, I’ve felt The Lord (and YOU!) here with me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you – from the bottom of my heart. Your prayers, friendship, and support have meant everything to me and my family. But thank you most of all to The Lord, for giving me more time here on earth with my brother.

💗

James 1:2-5
The Voice (VOICE)
2-4 Don’t run from tests and hardships, brothers and sisters. As difficult as they are, you will ultimately find joy in them; if you embrace them, your faith will blossom under pressure and teach you true patience as you endure. And true patience brought on by endurance will equip you to complete the long journey and cross the finish line—mature, complete, and wanting nothing. 5 If you don’t have all the wisdom needed for this journey, then all you have to do is ask God for it; and God will grant all that you need. He gives lavishly and never scolds you for asking.

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I think this version of Romans 5 is so beautiful. I especially love the portion I bolded in the first paragraph.

You are blessed,

– Sarah

Developing Patience

By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!

Romans 5, MSG

43.506202-116.445410

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I'm on a never ending journey of spiritual growth. I'm a bit (a lot) sarcastic, with a dry sense of humor. I enjoy raw, real conversations. The truth of who we are is so much better than the charade!
I'm a wife and mom, and I love it! My life is busy, fulfilling, and challenging. It's been about ups and downs, twists and turns, stagnation and growth. Today, I choose growth above bathing in the chaos of stagnation.
Most importantly, I'm forever in love with my Savior, and want to encourage you to grow in Him. Knowing that He adores you, and has a great plan for your life. You're never alone, there's no pit deep enough that the touch of Grace can't reach down and pull you out.
I look forward to hearing from you!

Trust me, I've been there, I've looked, I've searched and I know now, that there are no answers to be found in the bottom of a bottle or on the edge of a blade! Fighting Hard, Recovering, Rebuilding, REBORN. Moving on from addiction to a new life.

Romans 8:16-17: “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”